Adjustable headwear shaper



April 2, 1963 E. E. SEIGAL ADJUSTABLE HEADWEAR SHAPER Filed April 21, 1961 Fig.3

Earl E. Seigd/ INVENTOR. was.

BYW

Wow; 3%

United States 3,083,884 ADJUSTABLE HEADWEAR SHAPER Earl E Seigal, 808 th St., Golden, Colo.

Filed Apr. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 194,624 4 Claims. (Cl. 22325) This invention relates to devices for drying and shaping headwear of different types.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a shaping band which is adjustable to the desired dimension for mounting of work caps, cap covers or other Washable headgear thereon and thereby maintaining the headwear size, preventing shrinkage during drying of the headwear.

Another object of this invention is to provide a headwear shaper particularly useful for preventing shrinkage of the headwear upon drying and reducing the need for ironing thereof, which shaper is adjustable to the desired size by means of a novel and useful friction clamping device.

A further object of this invention is to provide a friction clamping device for a headwear shaper band which by virtue of its simplicity and accurate locking ability, is more widely useful and economically available to the public.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a headwear shaper band locking device for facilitating adjustment of the band with the band being held locked in adjusted size position with an increasing force as the headwear contracts upon the shaper band during drying.

Other objects of the present invention include the provision of a headwear shaper band having a novel friction locking mechanism capable of locking the band to an adjusted headwear size as indicated by size indicia on the inside surface of the free end of the band, the other end of the band being anchored to a mounting bracket for the friction locking mechanism. The lock ing mechanism is also effective to increase its locking pressure with contracting forces applied to the shaper band with the locking force applied along the entire width of the shaper band at one location only. A simpler yet more effective and less bulky adjustable shaper band device is thereby realized.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view with the adjustable headwear shaper device shown installed within a typical headwear.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially through a plane indicated by section line 2-2 in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 3-3 in FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be observed that the adjustable headwear shaper device is generally referred to by reference numeral 19 and is mounted within a typical headwear 12 as shown by dotted lines in FIGURE 1. The device includes a thin and hence flexible plastic band 14 having one end 16 anchored to a bracket member 18, the other end 20' of the band 14 being free. The ends of the band are therefore disposed in adjustable overlapping relation to each other in order to form a shape to which the headwear 12 is restricted. The outside surface 22 of the band 14 will accordingly be disposed against the headwear material. Mounted on the inside surface of the band 14 but adjacent to the end 20 thereof, is size indicating indicia Pi I: it

generally referred to by reference numeral 24 which may be useful in conjunction with the friction lock mechanism generally referred to by reference numeral 26 in order to adjustably lock the band 14 to a dimension desired for use with a particular headwear size.

The friction lock mechanism 26 is mounted on the bracket member 13 which is therefore of a general U- shaped configuration including a portion 28 which is anchored to the end 16 of the band 14 and to which a pair of projecting arm portions 30 and 32 are connected in straddling relation to the band 14 adjacent to the end 20 thereof which passes between the portion 28 of the bracket 18 and the friction lock mechanism 26. The bracket arms 30 and 32 extend perpendicular to the band end 16 and are provided with aligned apertures 34 spaced from the band 14 a predetermined distance.

The friction lock mechanism 2.6 is rotatably mounted by means of the aligned apertures 34 in the bracket arms 39 and 32. The friction lock mechanism accordin ly includes a cylindrical roller member 35 which is preferably made of a material such as woo-d which is softer than the material of which the bracket member 18 is made. The bracket member 18 may accordingly be formed from a relatively rigid material such as aluminum. The cylindrical roller is rotatably' mounted along an axis extending through the aligned apertures 34 in the bracket arms by means of a pair of barbed nails 38 which are anchored within the roller 36 at opposite axial ends, the nails 38 extending through the apertures 34 within the bracket arms. The roller is thereby assembled between the bracket arms and is rotatable about an axis which is offset with respect to the central geo metric axis through the cylindrical roller member 36. it will be observed from FIGURE 3 in particular, that the offset of the central axis with respect to the mounting axis through the nails 38, is such that the roller member 36 will apply a clamping pressure to the band 14 adjacent the end 20 thereof when displaced in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 3. When locked, any tendency for the band 14 to be displaced in a direction tending to contract the shape formed by the band 14, will by virtue of its tendency to pivotally displace the roller member 36 in a clockwise direction, cause the roller member to apply an increasing clamping pressure preventing any contracting relative movement be tween the overlapping portions of the band. It will therefore be observed, that the roller member 36 is of such axial length that it is substantially equal to the width of the band so that the friction clamping pressure applied thereto against the portion 2% of the bracket 18 will be applied along the entire width of the band for effective locking thereof. Also, it will be observed that a coating 40 is placed about the cylindrical surface of the roller member 36 so as to increase the frictional engagement of the roller member with the overlapping portions of the band. The material 40 may accordingly be either rubber or some abrasive material.

From the foregoing description, operation and utility of the adjustable headwear shaper band will be apparent. The band may therefore be expanded to automatically release the lock mechanism 26 and thereby move the portion of the band adjacent end 20 to a position until the size indicia thereof is exposed on one side of the roller member 36 opposite the end 20. With the band so adjusted to the proper dimension corresponding to a headwear size as indicated by the indicia 24, the device may be locked by pushing the roller member in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 3 to securely lock the band overlapping portions against the portion 28 of the bracket member 18. When the headwear 12 is placed over the band, after being washed, drying of the headwear will tend to contract the band which will be resisted with an increased locking pressur of the locking mechanism 26 as hereinbefore indicated. A very simple yet highly effective and efficient adjustable headwear shaping device is thereby realized.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A headwear drying and shaping device comprising, a flexible band having overlapping ends forming a headwear sharper, bracket means connected to one of said ends and projecting perpendicular therefrom to receive therethrough the other end of the band, and clamp means mounted by the bracket means for locking said bracket means to the band adjacent to said other end in response to contracting forces applied to the shaper to prevent contraction thereof, and releasable in response to expansion of the shaper to a readjusted size.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein said clamp means comprises, roller means rotatably mounted by the bracket means about a mounting axis in offset relation to a geometric central axis therethrough for locking engagement along an entire width of the band in response to displacement of the band in one direction tending to contract the shaper.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein the roller means is coated with friction surface material.

The combination of claim 3, wherein the bracket means includes projecting arms disposed in straddling relation to the band for rotatably mounting therebetween the roller means about said mounting axis inwardly spaced from the one end of the band.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,282,640 Schwarz Oct. 22, 1918 2,439,347 Pernini et al Apr. 6, 1948 2,630,252 Ottoson Mar. 3, 1953 2,672,839 Neuhaus Mar. 23, 1954 2,726,797 Kuenniger Dec. 13, 1955 

1. A HEADWEAR DRYING AND SHAPING DEVICE COMPRISING, A FLEXIBLE BAND HAVING OVERLAPPING ENDS FORMING A HEADWEAR SHAPER, BRACKET MEANS CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID ENDS AND PROJECTING PERPENDICULAR THEREFROM TO RECEIVE THERETHROUGH THE OTHER END OF THE BAND, AND CLAMP MEANS MOUNTED BY THE BRACKET MEANS FOR LOCKING SAID BRACKET 